Sidi Ould Tah was sworn in on Monday as president of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Taking over from Akinwumi Adesina, outgoing president of the AfDB, Tah promises institutional reform, deeper partnerships, and a focus on delivering measurable impact as he begins his five-year term as the ninth president of the developmental bank.
He is a distinguished economist, seasoned statesman, and transformative development banker whose career spans over four decades of high-impact leadership across African and international institutions.
Before his recent position as AfDB president, he served as president of the Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA) in Africa for a decade, where he led a landmark institutional transformation that firmly repositioned the Bank as a leading force in Africa’s development finance landscape.
Under his visionary leadership, BADEA attained outstanding credit ratings, increased its total assets from $4 billion to nearly $7 billion, and established itself as a model of operational excellence and strategic foresight.
A citizen of Mauritania, a Northwest African country, Tah’s tenure was defined by innovation and resilience. He crafted and executed the Bank’s first 10-year strategy — BADEA 2030 — and articulated a bold long-term vision with the Arab bank.
A champion of sustainable and inclusive finance, Tah established the Arab bank Sustainable Financing Framework.
He has played an active role in advancing Africa’s position in global climate finance discussions, including through regular participation in the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Prior to his role with the Arab bank, Tah served as Mauritania’s minister of Economy and Finance, where he also acted as national authorising officer for the European Development Fund and represented Mauritania on the Boards of Governors of the AfDB, IsDB, World Bank, and more than ten other development institutions.
His unique perspective — combining policymaking insight with the financial strategic acumen— enabled him to pioneer context-sensitive solutions such as debt-for-equity swaps that strengthened African DFIs without increasing sovereign debt burdens.
Tah has also held board roles with leading regional institutions, including Africa Export-Import Bank, Trade and Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, and the Central African States Development Bank (BDEAC).
A respected voice in global economic forums, he is a frequent invitee to the World Bank Development Committee and other high-level platforms.
He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis in France, along with advanced degrees from Paris VII-Jussieu and the University of Nouakchott.
The 60-year-old is fluent in Arabic, English and French, with working proficiency in Portuguese and Spanish.
Before his swearing in on Monday, he was elected in May with over 76 percent of shareholder votes—the highest margin ever recorded for a first-term AfDB president.
